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Arsenal will visit Watford on Saturday night as they aim to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City. With City in action earlier in the day, the Gunners could find themselves five points adrift of Manuel Pellegrini's side come the early evening kick-off at Vicarage Road.
Arsenal went into the international break in high spirits after they beat Manchester United 3-0 thanks to a blistering start at the Emirates Stadium - bouncing back from a disappointing home defeat to Olympiakos in the Champions League.
But Watford have already proved they are no pushovers and have at their disposal England’s top scorer this term so far in the form of Odion Ighalo. The Hornets have lost just once at home this season, but that was on their last outing at Vicarage Road when they succumbed to a Yohan Cabaye penalty against Crystal Palace.
So what do fans need to know about the Gunners visit to Watford on Saturday evening? Read on to find out.
Kick Off and Live Telecast
Channel: StarSports 1, StarSports HD1.
Live Stream: starsports.com
Date and Time: Saturday, 17th October 2015 – 2150 IST (1720 BST)
Venue: Vicarage Road Stadium, Watford.
Team News
Watford
Watford have been boosted by the news that Valon Behrami, Ikechi Anya (both calf), Allan Nyom (knee) have all returned to training this week and should be available for selection.
Quique Sanchez Flores is also hopeful over Jose Manuel Jurado, whom he expects to return from a hamstring injury in "maybe a week and a half". Whereas, Joel Ekstrand and Tommie Hoban also remain unavailable.
Nyom is also expected to be fit, but Lloyd Doyley (neck) is sidelined.
Arsenal
Arsene Wenger will check on the fitness of key player Alexis Sanchez (hip) following his return from Chile duty.
Arsenal could be boosted by the return of centre-back Laurent Koscielny, who has been out since the end of September with a hamstring injury while midfielders Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini are also in contention for Saturday's late kick-off.
But England duo Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck, meanwhile, continue their rehabilitation following leg and knee surgery respectively.
Form
Watford
Just the two defeats in all so far, one of which came away at league leaders Manchester City, has left the Hornets sitting comfortably in mid-table at this admittedly early stage.
But one main concern for Watford is their over-reliance on Odion Ighalo to find the net in recent weeks, the Nigeria international scoring each of Watford's last five goals.
Incredibly, Miguel Layun is the only other player to have made a breakthrough this term, and that came just 13 minutes into the game in a 2-2 draw at Everton. It perhaps comes as little surprise, then, to discover that Watford have scored the league's joint-fewest goals so far, with three shutouts to date.
On the flip side, however, the defensive record remains very strong for a newly-promoted side, having shipped seven goals up the other end. No side can boast a better record than that, which goes to show that it may be defence, rather than attack - which many had predicted - that is more likely to keep Flores's charges up come May at this rate.
Watford can hold claim to having the lowest shot-conversion rate and poorest shooting accuracy figures in the top flight this season, only upping the pressure on last season's leading marksman Troy Deeney to find his groove in front of goal.
Last 5 games: L-W-W-L-D (Most Recent: Watford 1-1 Bournemouth)
Arsenal
While Arsenal are stuttering in Europe, their Premier League form is impressive and they went into the international break having lost just once in seven top-flight fixtures.
A thumping victory over Manchester United will have boosted morale around the Emirates Stadium, but they now head to Vicarage Road to face a Watford side who have conceded just once at home in the league this season.
No side has kept more clean sheets against the Gunners' tally of four so far while only seven goals have been shipped overall - a joint-low across the division.
Last 5 games: W-W-L-W-W (Most Recent: Arsenal 3-0 Manchester United)
Key Stats
Head-to-Head
The Gunners have won their last five meetings with the Hornets in all competitions, including all four previous Premier League clashes.
Watford have only conceded three goals in their last six top-flight matches at Vicarage Road.
Watford’s last victory against Arsenal came in 1988 when they sealed a 1-0 victory at Highbury in the old Division One.
The Gunners have scored 9 goals in the last 4 previous Premier League games against Watford.
- There has only been one draw in their 21 meetings.
Watford
- Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo has scored Watford's last five Premier League goals.
- Watford have the lowest shot conversion rate (8.6%) and shooting accuracy (34.3%) figures in the Premier League this season.
- Watford have never won a Premier League game in the month of October (D4 L5).
- Their four home league matches have featured just two goals in total, compared to 11 goals in four away fixtures,
- They have only conceded three goals in their last six top-flight home matches.
Arsenal
- Arsenal have won three of their four away league games this season.
- Theo Walcott has 12 goals and three assists in his last 14 Premier League starts.
- Petr Cech has the best save percentage in the PL this season (82%, minimum 5 saves).
- Alexis Sanchez has scored five goals in his last two Premier League games, more than he had managed in his previous 21.
Probable line-ups
Watford (4-2-3-1):
Gomes, Nyom, Cathcart, Prodl, Ake, Anya, Capoue, Behrami, Abdi, Deeney, Ighalo
Arsenal (4-2-3-1):
Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Mertesacker, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud
Key Battles
Odion Ighalo vs Gabriel/Cech
One Watford player who seems to have no trouble getting on the score-sheet is Nigerian forward Odion Ighalo who already has five goals this season. If his services were lost to injury for any length of time then his team-mates could struggle. Whereas for Arsenal, Gabriel has impressed many with his defensive ability, forming a partnership with Per Mertesacker at the back, in the absence of ace defender Laurent Koscielny.
Gabriel will be tasked to keep out the Nigerian from scoring, in the process also maintaining his own record of not conceding a Premier League goal so far when he has been on the pitch for Arsenal.
The only way Watford can win this match is if Ighalo manages to beat Arsenal keeper Cech during the ninety minutes. He has already scored 5 goals, which is also 80% of the total goals scored by Watford this season. After spending 11 years at Chelsea, Cech arrived at Arsenal in the summer and after a torrid start to his career at the Emirates, he has managed to produce some outstanding performances in the last month.
He will be looking to keep a clean sheet on Saturday, which will basically mean keeping Ighalo quite. At this moment, the Nigerian looks to be the only source of success for Quique’s men but at some point Watford need to take the goal scoring burden off his shoulders.
Mesut Ozil vs Etienne Capoue
At the heart of this match lies an intriguing midfield tussle between two in-form players: Mesut Ozil and Etienne Capoue. Arsenal will look to Ozil to resume his regular task of pulling his side's creative strings - something he's been especially effective at so far this season.
At times maligned for a seemingly casual approach, the German is currently the Premier League's most lethal provider from open play. His 28 chances created ranks joint-highest in the English top flight, alongside Chelsea's Eden Hazard, and no player gets near his return of creating a chance every 21 minutes.
Clearly, suppressing this wave of production will be a tough ask, but Capoue and Watford have reason to be confident of at least reducing his influence. Impressively, the Hornets have also conceded just one goal in the six hours of football played on home soil, the league's best return.
Capoue has been a key factor in this defensive success, quietly finding form since his summer move from Tottenham. He leads his team with an industrious approach, already covering 91 kilometres this season, a distance only five Premier League players can better.
Prediction
Watford 1-3 Arsenal
This is a big game for Arsenal. They were terrible against Olympiakos, then a few days later they rip Manchester United apart. It is Arsenal, it's them all over.
It will be hard, but the Gunners should be able to get the goals as their attackers look like they are in form. If they want to be genuine title contenders they have to beat Watford in these type of games. There's no point being brilliant one week and poor the next. You'll get games with Arsenal that are absolutely brilliant, and others where they're not.
This is a massive game, especially with Bayern Munich coming up afterwards. Lose this and then lose to Bayern, and confidence is shot again. Therefore, Arsene Wenger’s men will be looking to pile up the pressure on Manchester City, keeping their own hopes high as well.
Betting odds (William Hill)
Watford to win: 5/1
Arsenal to win: 11/20
Draw: 3/1
